Homework
by sunsets-over-scars
Summary: Karin has always struggled in Science class. Lelouch and Suzaku barely keep her passing. When Suzaku finally gets a break from his military duties, Karin gets him to stay with her to help with some homework. But she might just learn a few more things besides Science.


"And so, the mechanics of quantum particle conversion are as follows..."

Karin sighed. Why was Science a required subject in school? Why was she forced to take this crap? She'd never been good at mechanics, always been more of a creative mind, her favorite classes being Japanese and Music. She hated the idea that there was one answer, one way to get it. And that's exactly what Math and Science were: her worst nightmares.

The girl slumped over in her desk, trying to stay awake. This was absolute torture. She'd been here at Ashford Academy since seventh grade, why was this still hard? She knew the teacher; Kakashi-sensei was always very understanding and ready to help. But it would never seep in. If it weren't for the fact that her creative grades were so high, Karin would've surely been held back a year or two. She'd barely been passing in high school thanks to her friends Suzaku Kururugi and Lelouch Lamprouge; they'd tutored her to death, just enough that she had a praying chance of passing the test the next day. It was a working method that kept her passing, but only by a hair.

She felt a poke on her side, making her quietly shriek and sit up. She sent an angry glare to Suzaku, sitting beside her. He grinned and pointed to the front of the room. _Pay attention_, he mouthed. _This is important._

She frowned but complied, sighing loudly and leaning her head on her hand, sending her gaze towards the complicated information on the board. She heard her friend chuckle beside her but just growled silently to herself. She'd deal with him later.

She zoned in and out throughout the lesson, sometimes paying attention, sometimes off in La-La-Land. No matter; she wouldn't have understood it anyway. She found herself stalking the second hand on the clock placed above the classroom's chalkboard towards the front, avidly waiting for the school day to end. She disovered she was almost _bouncing_ in her seat, waiting to be released. This was utter torture, these last five minutes of class. The minutes were hours and the seconds were minutes. It just wasn't fair.

"Okay," the teacher said, closing his lesson-plan binder. "The bell's about to ring, so you guys can go ahead and pack up; class is over for today."

Karin sighed happily. "Finally!" she exclaimed, stretching her arms up and popping her back. "I wanna go home!"

Suzaku laughed. "Maybe that's why you're barely passing this class; you just give up and zone out halfway through. All you focus on is getting back to your dorm."

She pat her friend's back. "Oh, Suza-chan," she said, purposely using his childhood nickname that he now hated, "you don't understand. I could have been paying perfect attention the entire time and it would be like the man was speaking Romanian. So I might as well not waste my time trying."

He shrugged. "You never know; you should give it a try one day."

She laughed. "Funny, funny man. You, sir, are a hoot." The bell rung, dismissing the kids. "Ah," she said, relieved. "Finally. Homeward bound!" She started to leave but turned to her friend once again. "See you at seven? Dinner and homework?"

He gave a thumbs-up. "This is the only day you're getting me here; I've got training the rest of the week. I'll see you then."

"Agh, you work too much! Take a vacation from that army thing!" She laughed and waved at him. "See ya." Karin left the classroom and headed off to her home, or more realistically, her dorm. She shared the living quarters above the Student Council Room with Lelouch and his little sister, blind and crippled, Nunnally. They were somewhat separated, of course, for privacy purposes, but they shared the building and such. It was a comfortable living that prevented her from having to commute from her awful grandmother's house, a twenty-minute drive from the school.

Once inside the building she bid hello to Nunnally, almost like a sister to her. She was used to taking care of the girl when Lelouch wasn't avaliable and Sayako was busy cooking or cleaning. She enjoyed being around the girl and chatting with her about girl things, her best "girlfriend."

"Is Suzaku-kun coming over today?" the girl said hopefully.

Karin laughed. "Yeah, he's gonna help me with my homework. I promise I'll bring him to say hello to you before we begin work." She smiled as the girl's mood visibly perked, excited to see her brother's best friend. Karin said goodbye to her before heading up to her bedroom to change out of her Ashford uniform.

Karin's bedroom wasn't anything much out of the ordinary: purple walls, white and black decor, a few band and movie posters on the walls. A typical teenage girl's room. She entered the room and flopped on her bed, taking a few minutes to rest her tired bones. Once she motivated herself enough, she got up and went to her closet to change into some blue jean shorts and a black tank top, ready to lounge around until Suzaku got there. She flopped back on her bed and just stared at the ceiling for a while, her usual after-school protocol.

She heard a knock at her door and turned towards it. "Come in, it's open," she said to the air.

The entrance creaked, open, revealing her friend and housemate Lelouch. "Hello, Karin," he said, walking into the room.

Her eyes brightened and she rolled over, motioning for him to lay with her. "Hey, Luku-chan," she said, using his childhood name and patting the space beside her, "you look like you need a good rest. Come over here."

He walked to the edge of the bed and stared at her. "We're sixteen, Ka-chan, I hardly think that's appropriate."

She sighed and grabbed his hand, pulling him down onto the bed. "Oh, shut up, Luku-chan, I've known you since we were eight. I think it's fine." She grabbed his hand as they both stared at the ceiling. "So why did you come here, anyway?"

He chuckled. "I came here to talk about tonight, you and Suzaku...being in here."

She turned her head to look at him. "Hm? What's there to talk about?"

He looked her in the eye, gripping her hand. "Just...be nice to Suzaku, okay? He's...got some things to say, tonight, I think...and I want you to take him seriously. Some things are gonna change, Ka-chan."

She looked at him quizzically. "What could possibly change? Is he being transferred or something?" She looked at her friend worriedly. "Is he being demoted? What's wrong?"

Lelouch sighed. "It's not my place to tell you, Ka-chan, but you'll know soon enough." He rubbed her palm with his thumb, "Everything's gonna be okay. The only problem is..."

"What? What?" Karin was beginning to freak out.

Lelouch rubbed her hand. "Calm down...you're just so naive, Karin. _So naive_."

She scoffed. "Whaddya mean by that?" But her violet-eyed friend never got to answer, because there was the doorbell.

"Ah," the boy said, "looks like he's here. I'll get out of here...take heed to what I said."

She scowled. "I'm not gonna get a good answer, am I?"

The raven ignored her as he left the room. "You have a guest, I think you should go receive him," he said teasingly, using that manipulative tone he knew she despised.

She groaned and complied, heading down the stairs to the front door, opening it hastily. And there was Suzaku, standing tall with his bookbag slung over his shoulder, also changed out of his school uniform and into a yellow t-shirt and jeans. "Hey," he said, grinning widely.

She was still a bit worried, but forced a smile. "Hi, Suza-chan!" She moved out of the way for him. "Come on in, make yourself comfy, as always." She let him in and called in the living room. "Nunnally?"

The girl came in with her wheelchair from the hallway, a smile on her face. "Ka-chan? Is Suzaku-chan here?"

"Hey, Nunnally!" Suzaku said, moving over to the girl to hug her. "How've you been? I haven't seen you in a while!" They chatted for a while before Nunnally bid the two goodnight (they wouldn't see her until tomorrow) and Karin led her friend up to her bedroom.

Once inside she returned to her floppy position on the bed. Thankfully she didn't have to instruct Suzaku and he just knew to climb in with her, also grabbing her hand. It was a regular position they'd taken over the years for multiple purposes: to play and dream as children, to comfort each other as pubescents, and now as teenagers to joke and talk.

"We're not gonna get much homework done this way, ya know," Suzaku said sarcastically.

The girl shrugged. "Not like I care. All we got's that stupid sheet Kakashi-sensei gave us; not like I'd understand it in the first place."

He grasped her hand, stroking each finger with one of his, "You shouldn't just give up in that class, ya know. Maybe I can help you understand it better."

She laughed. "I don't even think the power of all the gods could help me pass this class with better than a seventy-two."

Suzaku sat up, pulling his friend with her. "Well let's at least try, okay? I mean, that _is_ why I came here in the first place."

Karin's face got really red and she looked down at her lap. "Well...I have a question...first."

Suzaku nodded, pulling them into criss-cross positions facing each other. "Yeah? What is it?"

She continued to stare down, heavily embarassed. Suddenly her head shot up as she hurried through her sentence. "Lelouchtoldmesomethingwaswro ngwithyouandyouhadsomethingt osayandIwaswonderingwhatwasw rongandifeverythingwasokay!"

Suzaku's eyes widened. "Huh? Ka-chan, calm down! Speak more slowly, what's wrong?"

She took a deep breath before looking the boy soldier deep in the eyes. "Lelouch...he told me something was wrong with you. Said you had something to say. So I wanted to know if something was wrong...what you wanted to tell me?"

The brunette looked confused for a second before a flash of recognition blazed in his eyes as he mentally cursed Lelouch. "Uh...yeah...about that. It's...complicated. Why don't we wait until after we do our work?"

Karin shook her head in declination, grabbing both of Suzaku's hands, taking them in a firm grasp between them. "Whatever it is, I can help you through it! Just tell me what's wrong, what I can do to fix it! Please, tell me Suzaku!"

The boy appeared extremely conflicted for a moment before he grabbed the back of his friend's head and pulled her roughly into a kiss.

Karin squealed as she found the new pressure coating her mouth, and soon found herself welcoming the kiss, even so much as _returning it_. She felt a thousand thoughts go through her head, but _Suzaku_ was the predominating one as her soft lips melded with his rough ones in a touch that sent millions of sparks to every atom of her body.

She was released with a gasp, being brought forward into a warm hug, her chin resting on Suzaku's shoulder.

"That..." he said, breathing heavily, "was what I wanted to say."

She laughed and pulled out of the hug, grabbing the brunette's shoulders and smiling at him. "Screw the homework," she exclaimed, and pulled him in for another kiss.


End file.
